Determination of Organochlorine Levels in Antarctic Skua and Penguin Eggs by Application of Combined Focused Open-Vessel Microwave-Assisted Extraction, Gel-Permeation Chromatography, Adsorption Chromatography, and GC/ECD

Levels of organochlorines (PCBs, DDT, toxaphene, chlordane, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), hexachlo-rocyclohexanes (HCHs), dieldrin, Q1) were determined in eggs of both penguins (Adelie Pygoscelis adeliae, Chinstrap Pygoscelis antarctica, Gentoo Pygoscelis papua) and skuas (South Polar Skua Catharacta maccormicki, Brown Skua Catharacta antarctica lonnbergi, Mixed Pair Skua Catharacta maccormicki x lonnbergi) from the Antarctic. Focused open-vessel microwave-assisted extraction (FOV-MAE) was performed for the extraction of entire, partly lyophilised eggs (approx. 50 g). After gel-permeation chromatography (GPC) and adsorption chromatography on deactivated silica gel, the quantitation was performed by GC/ECD on two capillary columns of different polarity. Compounds of technical toxaphene (CTTs) were determined after separation of the PCBs. The sample clean-up method was validated with certified reference material SRM 1588. In general, skua eggs revealed higher organochlorine levels than penguin eggs. Mai...